Eagle publisher calls Interactive News app ‘a great addition’

Eckenroth Publications in Coronado has rolled out the augmented reality application developed by Interactive News, a CNPA Allied Member.

How does it work? Scan the newspaper with your smartphone and the content comes to life.

“It works similarly to a QR code, but instead of having a pre-determined code, the technology allows it to recognize the image itself as the trigger,” said Daniel Toennies, the newspaper company’s director of operations, in an Eagle & Times article.

“For example, you might be able to read our sports page in the newspaper and scan the image of a high school kid playing baseball. That will play a video, which is augmented reality from the newspaper. It brings print to life.”

Eagle Publisher Dean Eckenroth, CNPA’s 2015-16 president, is an early adopter of the app. He says it will appeal to younger prospective newspaper readers. “This next generation loves to use their phones and now they have been given a reason to use their phones to read the newspaper,” he said in the Eagle article. “Specifically, for a weekly newspaper, we can update a story and it can be read through the app. If you are selling houses, it connects people and is awesome.”